“The Martian Death March” an original radio drama from one of my favorites and a true master of the genre, Ernest Kinoy. This X-Minus One adventure is the story of man’s inhumanity to Martians. An allegory of the westward expansion and the mistreatment of the native Americans.A man who was a boy at the time tells the story of the death march of the Martians in 1997. He tells the tale of how the spider-beings have escaped from the reservations and are making their way home to the mountains lead by an earthman. Perhaps looking at this story through the prism of the future on another planet, we can see our own inhumanity a little clearer right here on Earth. And perhaps learn the lesson we still seem to be forgetting, or ignoring.

We conclude with The Anachronic Man: The Original Dr. Who, by H.G. Wells. This story started out as a precursor to The Time Machine, but our award winning adapter Cindy McGean found another sci-fi masterwork that must have been inspired by this short story. See what you think. The current political climate leads us to re-think how we treat aliens and all people who seem different. Too different for some.Prejudice leads to violence and intolerance leads to a loss of hope for our present and future selves.

One of my favorite parts of doing old time radio is how these scripts from the past, looking at our future, show how little we have learned from our past mistakes and shows how dangerous we can still be to ourselves. We are happy to share these tales of tomorrow and hope we all start learning from our past to ensure a better present and future. As they say: From the far horizons of the unknown come transcribed tales of new dimensions in time and space. These are stories of the future, adventures in which you’ll live in a million could-be years on a thousand maybe worlds.

11 a.m. ’til late
Free
All ages welcome
Please bring a can of food to donate to the Oregon Food Bank

Elves, wizards, orcs and all others are invited to join in this all-day celebration of J.R.R. Tolkien, one of the 20th Century’s most influential authors. We’ll have live music, The Lord of the Rings on the big screen, Willamette Radio Workshop performing live, a costume contest, Hobbit-inspired food specials and more!

Come join the Willamette Radio Workshop as we make another journey to Middle-earth with “The Hobbit’s Greatest Hits” our one-of-a-kind adaptation of the J.R.R. Tolkien classic suitable for all ages. We start at the beginning and end at the end, but in between, the audience chooses what order we tell the story (by picking numbers from the proverbial hat). The show is broken into two parts at 3pm and 5pm. The performance is set for Saturday, January 13th, at the McMenamin’s Kennedy School (5736 N.E. 33rd Ave.Portland, OR 97211), part of the annual J.R.R. Tolkien Birthday Celebration.

The costume contest is always a highlight and this year will be no different. Bring your finest Middle Earth inspired creations and join in the fun. Come on your own or bring a crew of your favorite characters for back up. The contest will start at 4:30, sign up with Jamie and Joe at the swag table, prizes will be awarded, laughter and merriment usually ensues.

The performance is absolutely free, but remember: when you come to Middle-earth, you too may be called into service! We need your voices for the battle of the Five Armies and elsewhere , don’t worry, it won’t be 2 and a half hours long.

Come grab a beer and some pizza and enjoy the unique experience of live radio and the timeless tale of The Hobbit.

“May the hair on your toes never fall out!”

About J.R.R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE (born January 3, 1892, died September 2, 1973) was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.

He served as the Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Pembroke College, Oxford, from 1925 to 1945 and Merton Professor of English Language and Literature at Merton College, Oxford, from 1945 to 1959. He was at one time a close friend of C.S. Lewis – they were both members of the informal literary discussion group known as the Inklings. Tolkien was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II on 28 March 1972.

After Tolkien’s death, his son Christopher published a series of works based on his father’s extensive notes and unpublished manuscripts, including The Silmarillion. These, together with The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings form a connected body of tales, poems, fictional histories, invented languages, and literary essays about a fantasy world called Arda, and Middle-Earth within it. Between 1951 and 1955, Tolkien applied the term “legendarium” to the larger part of these writings. While many other authors had published works of fantasy before Tolkien, the great success of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings led directly to a popular resurgence of the genre. This has caused Tolkien to be popularly identified as the “father” of modern fantasy literature – or, more precisely, of high fantasy.

In 2008, The Times of London ranked him sixth on a list of “The 50 Greatest British Writers Since 1945.” In 2009 Forbes ranked him the 5th top-earning deceased celebrity.

The Willamette Radio Workshop’s performance of the ORIGINAL, A Radio Christmas Carol as heard on OPB as a benefit for Transition Project’s new Walnut Park shelter. The show has been a Christmas tradition for the past 7 years at the First Christian Church, The Kiggins Theater in Vancouver and Tabor Space in the Copeland Commons, this year we are in the majestic Cerimon House, a beautiful space dedicated to the humanities and so, a perfect place for our classic tale of hope and redemption. Perfect for families to share together and remember the true meaning of the season.

Doors open at 6:30pm the show starts at 7:00.

Admission is FREE with donations of men’s clothing, new socks, new underwear or toiletries A $10 cash donation per person will also be accepted. Accepted items listed below.

The Willamette Radio Workshop presents a “live radio style” performance of Charles Dickens’ Christmas Carol, adapted by Cynthia McGean from the source and the Campbell Playhouse versions. The classic Christmas story of Scrooge and Tiny Tim finds it’s natural home in the radio medium, the theater of the mind. A ghost story told to remind mankind of the perils of greed and isolation at a time of the year when our community needs more help than ever. This years cast includes Curt Hanson as Scrooge, Cynthia McGean, Renee King, Alan King, Chris Porter, Phil Rudolph and Sam A. Mowry. Music provided by The Holly Jolly Radio Singers under the direction of Bennett Bailey. Plus in the tradition of the Golden Age of Radio, live Foley by David Ian and Dino de AElfweald. The show is an hour in length and suitable for all ages.
The award winning Willamette Radio Workshop wants to help preserve the history of Radio Theatre and to this end our work includes re-creations or re-imaginings of Classic Radio programs like The Campbell Playhouses Christmas Carol with Orson Welles and Lionel Barrymore. We also just love to put on a great show and that’s what we’ve done here.

Guild After Dark PREMIERS! with The Holiday Radio Hour featuring Willamette Radio Workshop. Monday, Dec. 3, 7:30 PM, $15 at the door. Sam A. Mowry and his team (Todd Tolces, Chris Porter, Ava Anderson, Leah Yorkston; wonderful songs by Kurt Misar & Sam Gregory and Brad Beaver; sound by Martin J. Gallagher) will bring us wonderful radio stories from the golden age of radio, complete with sound effects!!!! Repeats Tuesday, Dec. 4, at 10:30am. $10 at the door.

Hear San Francisco’s favorite daughter Candy Matson in the Jack Frost caper. The Battling Bickerson’s in Christmas Eve. Then Fibber McGee and Molly tackle that closet when Fibber Snoops for Presents. and we finish up with Stan Freberg’s Christmas Dragnet. He is the master of Radio comedy.

Now o’er the one-half world nature seems dead, and wicked dreams abuse the curtained sleep. Witchcraft celebrates and murder thus with stealthy pace moves like a ghost.

Now could I a tale unfold whose lightest word would harrow up your soul, freeze your blood, and make your two eyes, to start from their spheres, and each particular hair to stand an end.

When shall we three meet again?

In thunder, lightning, or in rain?

Where the place?

McMenamins Kennedy School.

On Halloween.

There to meet with?

Macbeth.

The award winning Willamette Radio Workshop presents a One Hour version of Shakespeare’s creepiest tale of witches, murder, ambition and curses, MACBETH.

FREE at 4:00 and 5:30pm Wednesday October 31st. Free Trick or Treating from 4:30-6:30pm.

This Halloween offering is perfect for the Shakespeare and Halloween mad Portland crowd, indulge both with some fine craft beer and hearty autumnal food at McMenamins Kennedy school. The shows are free and free Trick or Treating within the halls of Kennedy school make it the perfect way to spend our favorite holiday.

The shows are free and parents of children should be aware of intense scenes, though the bloodshed is all audio and therefore even scarier.

HURF, by Craig Kenworthy.HURF is the story of two slackers who accidentally summon a death-dealing demon from another dimension while playing Scrabble.In a time of war with death a daily topic of the news, the question of why people kill and why people choose not to kill is of paramount importance. HURF uses humor and Science Fiction to examine the question: is it ever okay to take a life?Our production won the Ogle Award for Science Fiction Audio Drama in 2007.

Our next show comes from Dimension X, June 17, 1951. “Pebble in the Sky” takes its theme from the eponymous Isaac Asimov novel (brilliantly adapted by our favorite OTR writer, Ernest Kinoy) that thrusts a 20th-century everyman into a complex future of a galactic empire, a radioactive Earth, and mandatory euthanasia at age sixty, the Earth, which is the only inhabited radioactive planet in the Empire, has plans for conquest!The civilization of the galaxy spread across two hundred million worlds and space swarmed with the ships of the empire. But far off the trade routes, almost forgotten, lay the dying planet Earth. This is a story of the future, a story of an insignificant pebble in the sky called Earth, and of a man from a distant star who grew to love this unimportant planet.

Both these stories speak to issues of today in ways you’ve perhaps never imagined. The perfect blending of Science fiction and reality, or possible realities. It’s why we love doing the UFO Festival.

The show is produced and directed by Sam A. Mowry

The shows will be in the Hotel Oregon in Mattie’s Room at 3pm on Saturday May 19th. Admission is free, food and drink are available and Audio Theater swag from across the region will be on sale.

Come join the Willamette Radio Workshop as we make another journey to Middle-earth with “The Hobbit’s Greatest Hits” our one-of-a-kind adaptation of the J.R.R. Tolkien classic suitable for all ages. We start at the beginning and end at the end, but in between, the audience chooses what order we tell the story (by picking numbers from the proverbial hat). The show is broken into two parts at 3pm

and 5pm. The performance is set for Saturday, January 13th, at the McMenamin’s Kennedy School (5736 N.E. 33rd Ave.Portland, OR 97211), part of the annual J.R.R. Tolkien Birthday Celebration.

The costume contest is always a highlight and this year will be no different. Bring your finest Middle Earth inspired creations and join in the fun. Come on your own or bring a crew of your favorite characters for back up. The contest will start at 4:30, sign up with Jamie and Joe at the swag table, prizes will be awarded, laughter and merriment usually ensues.

The performance is absolutely free, but remember: when you come to Middle-earth, you too may be called into service! We need your voices for the battle of the Five Armies and elsewhere , don’t worry, it won’t be 2 and a half hours long.

Tapestry Theatre joins in presenting the Willamette Radio Workshop’s performance of the original, A Radio Christmas Carol as heard on OPB as a benefit for the Oregon Food Bank.The show has been a Christmas tradition for the past 7 years at the First Christian Church, The Kiggins Theater in Vancouver and this year the show will be at Tabor Space in the Copeland Commons, a beautiful space and the perfect fit for our favorite ghost story.

Doors open at 7pm the show starts at 7:30.

Admission is FREE with a non-perishable food donation for the Oregon Food Bank Food Bank.Cash donations will also be accepted.

Cookies and Hot Chocolate will be provided free of charge to set the mood.

The Willamette Radio Workshop presents a “live radio style” performance of Charles Dickens’ Christmas Carol, adapted by Cynthia McGean from the source and the Campbell Playhouse versions.The classic Christmas story of Scrooge and Tiny Tim finds it’s natural home in the radio medium, the theater of the mind. A ghost story told to remind mankind of the perils of greed and isolation at a time of the year when our community needs more help than ever. This years cast includes Tom Beckett as Scrooge, Cynthia McGean, Angela McKennie, Judy Straalsund , Chris Porter, Tim McKennie and Sam A. Mowry. Music provided by The Holly Jolly Radio Singers under the direction of Bennett Bailey.Plus in the tradition of the Golden Age of Radio, live Foley by David Ian and Dino de AElfweald. The show is an hour in length and suitable for all ages.

The award winning Willamette Radio Workshop wants to help preserve the history of Radio Theatre and to this end our work includes re-creations or re-imaginings of Classic Radio programs like The Campbell Playhouses Christmas Carol with Orson Welles and Lionel Barrymore. We also just love to put on a great show and that’s what we’ve done here.

This Halloween join the Workshop as we bring you the Tales of Edgar Allan Poe, Ho, Ho. FREE. Our take on the Master of the Macabre and the encroachment of Christmas on our favorite holiday, Halloween. Who better to put the mistletoe in it’s place than Poe and who better than William S. Gregory to make it happen. Starring Pattricia Blem, Robn Woolman, Curt Hanson, James Dineen, Chris Porter with Live Foley by David Ian and Dino DeAElfweald, live music by KJ McElrath and Magic Lantern Slides by Joe Medina of Ollin Productions.

This Halloween Tuesday the 31st at 4:00pm and 5:30pm at McMenamin’s Kennedy School in the Movie Theater (5736 N.E. 33rd Ave.,Portland, OR, 97211).